Painting
Equestrian Portrait of Don Jose Andres Sepulveda, c.1856
Henri Joseph Penelon
Oil on canvas; 43 in. x 35 in.
2429
Artist Henri Joseph Penelon, born in Lyon, France in 1827 and active in El Pueblo de los Angeles by 1853 was an active painter and daguerreotype photographer. In 1853 the year in which Penelon arrived in Los Angeles, photography was a little over ten years old and the Pueblo boasted of only four photographers - the city's population amounted to roughly 2,500 inhabitants. Penelon photographed and painted oil portraits of leading citizens and even decorated the front of the plaza church with ornamentation and religious painting. This painting made in 1856 depicts Don Jose Andres Sepulveda, who was a major landholder, (Sepulveda owned Rancho San Juaquin made up of much of what is now considered Orange County) and known for his flashy costumes, hospitality and daring bets.
The portrait shows Sepulveda astride Black Swan, a mare imported from Australia, which Sepulveda matched against former California governor Pio Pico’s unbeaten horse Sarco in a nine mile race. The men wagered $25,000 and 1500 livestock including calves, heifers and horses. The race, with all Southern California on the side lines and making fantastic bets, was run in Los Angeles in 1852 and won by Black Swan. Sepulveda’s son-in-law and a witness to the race wrote later that not much of it could be seen except for the start and the finish because the wild mustard plants stood ten feet high on both sides of the road. Soon after the race Sepulveda took Black Swan to El Refugio, the elaborate adobe home and acreage he had purchased from Domingo Yorba about 1854. El Refugio was located near present day First and Sullivan Streets in Santa Ana. It has been said the family used to feed the horse sugar from the veranda.
The elaborate saddle with removable portion shown in the portrait was of the type developed in the period between 1820 and 1840; it has been suggested to be the finest ever produced in California. Made of black leather the saddle and coverings were embroidered with silver thread.
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